It is a game of no discernible value that fails to effectively skewer the most skewerable of industries. The one moment of joy this game brought was watching it uninstall. In case there remains any doubt, do not buy this game.
There's nothing to recommend Defoliation. As a point-and-click adventure game, the lack of indicators for things that can be interacted with is especially annoying. As a puzzle game, many of the puzzles are both poorly constructed and afflicted by a defective translation. As a story the plot is nonsense. Play a Zero Escape game instead.
Bad puzzles, repetitive combat, and poorly designed encounters are constant companions. I respect the desire and the work that must have gone into making this revival a reality. I just wish the product would have been better for long-suffering fans.
Conceptually, a tower defense game with Angry Birds combat works well enough, but here it just isn't any fun to play. This game isn't worth your money or your time, which makes the $30 asking price particularly outrageous.
If it played well, if it looked better, if it performed acceptably this could be a funny little cult-classic, a recommendation to the right audience. As it stands, however, all it has going for it is a prevailing mania. That's not enough.
I found myself much less interested in the characters or plot of Fallen Legion Revenants, and it's probably safe to just say I liked everything about this game less than its predecessor. I'm honestly disappointed. If developers YummyYummyTummy announce another Fallen Legion title, I promise they'll get my attention, but I'm going to have to wait a little longer this time before I let myself get excited.
To be sure, some of this is my own incompetence - failing to notice the street signs that can be used to ricochet bullets. But much of it is the fault of the game - the eight-person ricochet off stop signs only hitting two of eight foes in a scene designed explicitly to tutorial that very feature. For that reason alone, I cannot recommend Milanoir. If you want to experience the story of a sadistic killer who's plans have gone bust, you're better off watching one of the game's inspirations, the 1973 film Almost Human. Just know it, and Milanoir, are not for the faint of heart.
But this one, there are just too many things that got on my nerves. Some people will still have a good time, and for sure there were moments where I went from delighted to dumbfounded and back in seconds. But the best I can say is proceed with caution, falling debris ahead.
This means an additional two hours of rocketing between worlds, stomping about, and quicktime eventing through giant monsters. If avoiding damage to civilians had some material impact, or if Jettomero was ever in peril, or if the story had any fun bits, or if the boss fights took the form of anything other than QTEs then Jettomero might be worth a look. At best, it's a neat physics toy, watching our giant protector get knocked about by gravity and his tiny wards, but as a game it's lacking in substance to go with all this style.
The world of fault seems to be interesting, and I'd be lying if I wasn't interested in seeing more of it, but the focus on world building hurts narrative progression. I'm confident existing fans of the fault series will enjoy LIGHTKRAVTE, and people who enjoy reading stories about fantasy worlds may find the fault world to be interesting. However, I think the lack of a compelling protagonist really brings it down.
But, the game is what it is. I think some people will really enjoy Poison Control, but you already know who you are. The rest of you will likely find it a bit dull and potentially off-putting.
Fans of Armored Core should look past my concerns, and give the game a go. People who want to take the controls of a mech and shred a bunch of underpowered foes will have a good time. The general public should probably give it some extra thought.
Ultimately, even if everything else were great, and the combat system worked exactly like they wanted, the game would still feel unfair. And in a 100+ hour JRPG, that constant grinding unfairness will poison any joy a game can create. There are times where I enjoy playing it, but always know a kick in the teeth is lurking around the corner.
It doesn't earn the credit it gets and instead just perpetuates a good idea that's been at the core of this franchise for two decades. This series needs a lot of work before the next entry; hopefully series' developer Gust will put in the work. If they do, I'll be there to play it myself.
I enjoyed my time with it, about 10 hours, and Itō's quest to find the truth at great personal cost is compelling. That said, if you're looking for a solid point-and-click, I can't really recommend it. It's just too thin on that front.
However, I can't. I won't say there's no reason to play it; if you're a fan of giant robots with anime teens crying over the futility of war while killing hundreds in order to stop planetary-scale annihilation there's still something here. I just can't promise you're going to feel like it was the best use of your time.
However, too many negatives just leave you underwhelmed. Whether it's the lack of polish, the short playtime length, or the number of weird bugs that can leave you completely frustrated. As it is, there are too many good 2D platformers on Switch to recommend it unless you're playing it with someone who really finds the presentation speaks to them.
The fact of the matter is neither is compelling nor are they offensively poor. Despite logging dozens of hours, I don't care about these characters nor do I feel like the battles have changed dramatically in a very long time. A fan of this genre would get some fun out of God Wars, and I would be lying if I said I didn't, but the fun to tedium ratio is just far too low. Instead, take a look at better examples of the genre, such as the two Disgaea games already on Switch.
However, the lack of checkpointing and overly long exploration segments are a one-two punch of frustration. Some floors of Deathflock HQ seem impenetrable and while the boss fights are the star of the show, even they aren't without problems. The concept isn't beyond saving, and it's still possible to have a good time, but too often Pato Box just left me incredibly frustrated.
If you like narrative-style adventures, like Night in the Woods and its ilk, then this is an easy recommendation. If you like strong characters then this should be a priority to play. However, if you need a little more gameplay in your games then this might not be for you.